Freedom
by shadowsreached
Summary: Yugi asks Serenity to come with him to Airlock, a land that is based upon the game of World of Warcraft. But with so many of the nightly visits and the secretive outings it's hard to go unnoticed.
1. Night

**Disclaimer: **I do not own YGO or World of Warcraft. I do own the land of Airlock.

**By: Shadowsreached **

**A Nightly Visit:**

Serenity virtually had a heart attack after she looked over from her bed and saw Yugi outside her bedroom window clinging to the drainpipe while looking as if he would die if she didn't let him in.

She got out of her bed and raced over to the window quickly unlatching the lock and allowing Yugi to let go of the pipe and grab the windowsill thus causing him almost fall to the ground before tumbling inside her room with a heavy grunt.

"Yugi!" she cried out silently not wanting to rouse Joey who was sleeping in his room across the hall. "What do you think your doing!?"

"Is Joey here?" He asked promptly a bit out of breath.

"Yes. But how did you get up the drain pipe like that!?" Serenity asked hastily looking over the sill and down at the pavement. "It's impossible."

"You know, I don't really know how," Yugi said standing up and pacing over to Serenity, "I just started climbing."

"You've done this before haven't you?" She accused.

"Bakura taught me." Yugi said smiling guiltily at Serenity. "I didn't ask to be taught though…"

"I'm not surprised." Serenity answered back closing the windowsill silently and coming to sit on her bed.

"But why are you here?" She inquired.

"I need to know if you want to come with me." Yugi whispered his expression suddenly eager.

"Pardon? You know, if Joey catches you here—"

"I know," Yugi said, hushing her statement, "but I just have to to know—"

"Where?" Serenity interrupted.

"To Airlock. It's an area that I want to invite you to." Yugi clarified sitting down on the bed. "You don't have to come, but I thought you would want to."

'_Airlock? Where…?'_ Serenity thought gazing at Yugi as if he had just grown an additional head.

"Where is that?" She asked.

"You have to go through a portal to get there, so I think—"

"Wait! You mean Airlock isn't even on earth!?" Serenity exclaimed finding it difficult to keep her voice down.

"Well…" Yugi started glancing down. "…If you don't want to come…"

_'Actually it sounds like fun Yugi, I'd love to come!' _She thought privately but at the same time wondering why Yugi thought it would be so easy to convince her to get her out of the house and run away with him.

"What do you do in that place?" Serenity asked climbing onto the bed so she could sit next to him. "Is it dangerous?"

Yugi looked up excitedly, "Oh no! It's safe as long as you pace yourself, I want you to come because I need help with leveling up for the—"

"Leveling up?"

Yugi stopped to explain. "Have you ever heard of the game World of Warcraft?"

"Ya, but I've never played it before." Serenity replied trying to remember how she had heard of the game.

"Well do you know how to play it?" Yugi asked.

"I know the rules; I think Tristan showed it to me."

"Well it's just like World of Warcraft; the only difference is that it's in a different world."

Serenity eyed him doubtfully, "Where is this portal?" She asked.

"In an old house that's not being used by anyone." Yugi stated flinging his hand over to the south and pointing out the window.

"You're seriously thinking I'm going to believe you?" Serenity laughed causing Yugi to put his hand down. "Portals don't just appear you know."

"With everything that has happened to us, how can you _not_ believe it?" Yugi retorted staring at Serenity.

"Well I—"

"C'mon Serenity, it'll be fun, besides we'd come back before anyone knew, just a couple times a day—"

"Are you CRAZY!" Serenity cried out without warning, this time not bothering to keep her voice down. "A couple times a day? I have school!"

Yugi looked around the room widely for a second hopping that her shout hadn't woken Joey. When nothing stirred he looked back at Serenity and put a hand on her shoulder in order to calm her.

"I promise I'm not going to take you away from your work, I only need you to come before and after school. Also, you can come on the weekends whenever you want."

Serenity sighed, "What about homework?"

"Do it and then come."

'_That's fair…' _She thought_, '…if it doesn't bother school then it'll be okay.'_

"Why me?" she asked, getting a bit excited about the prospect of a journey with Yugi. "Why not Joey, he's your best friend."

"I considered doing that but then I remembered how his school work was going and I didn't want to disturb his grades or anything." Yugi explained to Serenity who nodded.

"Knowing him," Yugi continued, "He'd just blow off his school work for the portal every day. Besides, you're my friend too."

"Really?" Serenity endured. If Yugi thought that she would be responsible with her grades she had a good feeling about the adventure. "Because what if I blow it off?"

"You won't." Yugi stated gazing up at her, "You can't afford to."

"Do you even know my scores?" She asked perplexed about how he was stating his words so bluntly.

"Ya, I have them."

Serenity lined her brows at him. "What are they?"

"I'm not telling you, I don't want you to know them, that way you'll keep them up."

"What?! You're not my mother! Give them to me!"

"Forget it Serenity, just forget I told you." Yugi said backing up a little from her rage.

"Just tell me if they're good!"

"They're fine."

Serenity stopped her persistence. "Really?" She asked.

"Yes."

"You don't really have them do you?" Serenity challenged hopping that he'd to open up to what they where.

"I do, and I'll tell them to you right _before_ you get your report, that way you'll know that it wasn't a lie."

"Okay." Serenity agreed figuring Yugi wasn't the type to lie. A few minutes passed before Yugi spoke up.

"So, do you want to come?" he asked sliding off the bed.

"What about Joey?" Serenity asked looking behind her. "He'll be worried if he discovers I'm gone."

"I doubt he'll wake up, besides we'll only be gone for a short period this time. If you don't like it you never have to come again."

"Okay fine, but this goes against all my moral grounds." Serenity said getting up to stand behind Yugi. "I've never ran away before."

"You'll probably like it, besides it's not really running away, you'll be back before school." Yugi said.

He walked across the room and opened the bedroom door, peering around at the small hallway in the apartment. He waited for a few seconds more before motioning for Serenity to follow.

When he stepped outside of her room he stopped to let Serenity come up. "You go ahead," He said awkwardly, "I don't want to do anything that might trigger something."

"The alarm system if broken," Serenity explained walking past him and leading the way to the front door. "It should be okay."

She tried the handle quietly and realized that it was locked.

Unlocking the bolt wasn't difficult and soon they were both outside, the door closing softly behind them.

"We can run there, that way you'll get warm." Yugi said noticing how Serenity automatically began to shiver.

He walked down the steps and onto the sidewalk. "Is that okay with you?"

"I don't know…" Serenity said turning her head back up at her apartment with an apprehensive look. "It's cold."

"You said you'd come," Yugi said again, looking back with inviting eyes, "Don't you want to see it? Besides, it's a lot warmer in Airlock, even at night; you won't need to worry about being cold."

"Okay, let's get this over with..." Serenity said jogging down the rest of the steps and stepping up next to Yugi. "We'll be returning home before daylight right?"

Yugi nodded and began to jog slowly running backwards at first to make sure that Serenity would follow.

When he saw that she was he turned around and quickened his pace; soon the two teens were both running down an empty street leaving the small apartment complex in the far distance.

**TBC**

Please R&R! .


	2. Found

**Disclaimer: **I do not own YGO or World of Warcraft. I do own the land of Airlock.

**By: Shadowsreached **

* * *

**A New Voice:**

Serenity laid on the soft grass while starring up at the stars of the chilly night.

She had contemplated going back to sleep every time they had stopped to rest but finally decided against it because the city sounds kept her up.

Turning her head she faced Yugi who was also looking up.

"How much longer?" She asked quietly.

"Oh, not much now, actually we're almost there." Yugi replied resting a hand on his stomach and facing her. "Are you tired?"

"No." Serenity stated thinking that he was accusing her of being weak. "But I am wondering how you came all the way from the portal to my apartment."

"Oh." Yugi said laughing, "I didn't come from the portal. I came from my house."

Serenity stared at him. "You know, you make it sound as if you're an alien."

He laughed again making her smile.

"So have you told your grandpa yet?" Serenity asked changing the subject.

Yugi winced, "Ah! No, not yet."

"Are you going to?"

"I don't know, I'm figuring that as long as he doesn't know that I'm sneaking out of the house then it really doesn't matter. You know? It's as if it's not even happening." Yugi told Serenity hoping that what he was saying was true.

She gazed at him and then looked back up at the moon and wished she was back in her own bed.

* * *

Yugi continued to stare silently up at the stars until he heard Serenity fall asleep next to him. 

He looked over and sighed, _'she's not going to like it when I wake her up.' _

Returning back to his gazing he thought about what he was doing. Was it really a good idea to go over to Joey's apartment and steal his sister away from him in the dead of night without leaving any trace of a message of there whereabouts?

_'No'_ He thought fidgeting a little.

Was it okay to not tell Serenity the entire truth about why they were going over to Airlock?

_'I tried to tell her…'_

That wasn't the question.

_'She interrupted me…'_

So? You could've told her after she was done interrupting.

_'And I still can.' _

How do you think she'll feel if you told her why you really want her to come to Airlock after she had already agreed to come with you thinking in her head that you had told the entire truth?

_'Not happy?'_

So was it okay?

_'No.' _

Yugi shifted again feeling even more uncomfortable at that thought. It wasn't too late to send Serenity home and then apologize to Joey for "trying" to steal his sister.

But he had promised Serenity this far, he wasn't about to take back everything he had said.

Looking back at the sleeping figure next to him he sighed and got up from his position.

* * *

"Serenity! Hey, wake up!" 

Serenity cracked an eye open to see Yugi standing above her his eyes shinning in the darkness.

"_What?_" She asked irritable but then shut her mouth with hearing how rude her comment had sounded. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Yugi said offering his hand to hers.

Serenity laughed at his kindness and took the hand hauling herself up from the ground.

"Thanks." She said again brushing off the dead leaves with her hand.

"No problem, are you ready?" He asked.

She yawned and nodded her head, "Let's go."

"Okay, follow me." Yugi said starting back and then running the rest of the way back into the street that they had crossed over an hour ago.

_'I wonder how long I was asleep.' _She thought as she began to run.

However, she was rather surprised to realize that, with looking at her clock, it had only taken fifteen minutes to reach the location in which Yugi had said the portal was in. She was also surprised at how fast Yugi had found the portal in which they were going into.

'_How many times has he been here?' _She thought running downstairs and into the basement behind Yugi.

In the basement there was a large wooden door that Yugi opened for her.

Once the door was opened Serenity stared in confusion as she saw that a paved road appeared beyond the doorway and many people were racing back and forth between crowded villages.

"Uh—"

"Now do you believe me?" Yugi asked grinning at Serenity.

"Uh…are those real people?" She asked still watching as the men and women pushed their way through the crowds some of them shouting out comments that she couldn't understand.

"There people from all around the world Serenity. I'm guessing, because I don't know for sure, that every country has a portal like this that is open for the one's who are able to find it."

"But…who put it here?"

"I don't know, I just found it when I was walking home from school the other day." Yugi said, tapping his fingers on the portal he added, "Are you coming?"

"Uh…you're sure it's safe?"

"C'mon Serenity!" Yugi begged, "I'm starting to think I should've brought Joey."

Serenity blushed; she knew that she was taking up his time.

"Okay…let's go."

"Okay." Yugi lent out a hand to her.

Serenity looked at it not knowing what to do.

"Take it, we'll go together." Yugi said his kindness returning.

"Oh…" She reached out, closed her eyes, and grasped his hand.

Yugi smiled and paced forward towards the door.

Seconds later a rush of wind suddenly blasted Serenity's face and she felt herself being sucked into what felt like a vacuum with no oxygen.

As the feeling of death came over her she opened her eyes and saw that she was tumbling down from the air and towards the pavement below.

She opened her mouth to let out a scream but before she could sudden darkness surrounded her.

* * *

Yugi fell to the ground with a large thump causing several people to stop in there tracks and look at him oddly. 

"Sorry," He muttered to them as he got up and rubbed his head. _'I have to learn how to land on my feet.' _

As the people began to wander away from the scene Yugi was able to look around for Serenity who had let go of his hand in the middle of the fall.

"Serenity!" he yelled out in the air causing the people who had just begun to walk away from him to stop and stare once more.

He blushed again but this time walked away from them in search for his partner.

* * *

Serenity could sense someone was shaking her roughly from where she lay on the ground. She flung out an arm at the intruder and felt her hand hit contact with skin. 

Snapping her eyes open she scrambled up from where she was and looked down upon her victim. Her eyes widened when she realized that she had hit a small boy that was wearing a assortment of layered clothes, anklets, and cuffs that all seemed to match his stunning dark blue hair.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" she kneeled down and picked the boy back onto his feet. "I'm so mean, please forgive me."

The boy stood back up on his feet and looked at her through puzzled eyes. "It's okay," He said with a surprisingly adult-like voice, "it didn't hurt. You just knocked me over that's all."

Serenity blinked down at him realizing that he was actually a dwarf. "Are you sure, I'm certain I hit you pretty hard." She said again making sure there were no marks on his face.

"You must be new here I'm guessing." The man said looking her up and down.

"Uh, yeah, but I didn't come alone." Serenity replied looking around for Yugi but not finding him. "Oh-no…"

"Lost your friend?" The dwarf asked looking past her legs.

"YES!" Serenity exclaimed fearfully taking a few paces around but only seeing forest trees in front of her and a few small houses at the rear.

The small man came to her side and said, "Don't worry; I'll help you find your friend Serenity."

Serenity stopped in her tracks. "How do you know my name?" she asked accusingly.

"It's right above your head." He said.

"Hu?" she looked up but couldn't see anything there, "What's right above my head?"

"Your name." the man replied again taking a step forward. "Can't you see mine?"

"Hu?" Serenity looked above his head. "No…"

"Hu?" The man looked up, "Oh! Just a second!"

He took off his backpack and got out a golden wristband with an assortment of solitary colored knobs.

Serenity peered closely at it and realized that there was also writing inscribed along the back side of the band.

'_Wow, that's cool.' _She thought straightening back up, allowing the man his space.

Eventually the man pressed a red knob on the side of it and several light blue letters suddenly appeared above his head.

He looked up, "How about now?"

Serenity nodded, "Tyron?"

"Yup! Now I'm guessing you can't see your name because you don't have one of these." He said holding up the wristband for her to see.

"What is it?" She asked.

"What is it!?" Tyron cried out in disbelief dropping his hand. "Why, this is one of the main things you need if you want to survive in this world!"

"What is it?" Serenity asked again.

"This is your health meter and guiding device! You're going to need to get one of these! Who brought you here?"

"His name is Yugi." Serenity replied wondering where she could get one of the bands.

"I thought you said he was your friend!" Tyron exclaimed. "He shouldn't be sending you here so unprepared! If you get attacked—" He stopped in mid-sentence when he saw the look of hurt on the girls face. "Oh, now don't get upset about this, it's very easy to fix, we just need to find a Craftsman."

"Alright, just can we find Yugi first; we need to be home at a certain time." Serenity explained. "I'm not really supposed to be here."

"Alright." Tyron said. "Let me find out where he is first. Is it spelled Y-U-G-I?"

"Ya, but why is that important?"

Tyron looked up at her with a sigh, "You have a lot to learn…" He kneeled down and once again started riffling through his backpack for something.

When he seemed to reach what he was looking for he beamed and pulled out a standard digital booklet.

A glowing green screen automatically hazed on when Tyron pressed the power button. He spelled Yugi's name into the booklet saying the letters one-by-one as he punched them with his large thumbs.

"What's that?" Serenity asked pointing to the booklet.

"It's a communication device as well as a storage place for your friends." He answered staring intently at the screen. He clicked a "add" button and Serenity saw that Yugi's name was added to a list of many others.

"What did you do?" She asked.

"I added your friend to my database of other friends so I could look him up on the map once I invite him to my group." Tyron explained while pressing a few more buttons. A sudden "beep" was heard and Yugi's picture dropped beside Tyron's name.

"What just happened?" Serenity asked looking at Yugi's picture.

"Now he's on the same link as I am." Tyron explained looking up at Serenity while the screen loaded something. "When we're on the same link he gets a share of whatever I get, like money or experience point for leveling, and I get a share of whatever he gets, it's like a partnership."

A few seconds passed before Serenity had another question.

"What are you doing now?" She asked looking down at the screen.

"I'm loading up the map so we can find him." Tyron explained.

As Serenity looked down she saw that the booklet now had an image of a revolving world with the words "searching…" underneath it.

"Where can you buy these things?" She asked.

"At a Craftsman shop, they sell both the wristband and this booklet to new travelers for free. However, I'm still surprised that Yugi didn't get you one." Tyron replied as the map appeared. "Ah! There he is." He exclaimed pointing to a moving golden arrow that was in a large city named Rycrite.

"Is that him?" Serenity asked pointing at the golden arrow.

"Yup!" Tyron exclaimed happily, "Okay, hold this for me and we'll make our way over to him."

"Okay." Serenity said taking the booklet from Tyron happy that she would be re-joined with Yugi again. "Thank you for helping me."

"Hey, that's not a problem; I need something to do these days." Tyron said standing up and looking around. "Okay," He said pointing over to the south-east, "This way."

**TBC**

R&R Please!


End file.
